


Life Eternal

by Everydayishark



Series: Monsta X bingo 2 [6]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Biting, Blood Drinking, Fluff, Friendship, Historical References, M/M, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Temporary Character Death, a journey through history, because Vampires, because what else do I write, endgame showhyuk, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-25 09:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9813659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everydayishark/pseuds/Everydayishark
Summary: To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,when we have shuffled off this mortal coil,must give us pause. There's the respectthat makes Calamity of so long life--“To be or not to be” – Hamlet, Shakespearea.k.a Minhyuk is a vampire roaming the earth for all eternity and he is tired of being alone.





	1. White as snow

_Tis’ not death I fear but loneliness, as I spend my eternity here upon this Earth. Human life is yet so fleeting and fragile. I have witnessed it once more. Those I had called my friends have fallen ill of this deadly disease. Soon they will leave this mortal coil. I fear I will be alone again, as I always am, in the end.”_

From the diary of Lee Minhyuk, 1350

\--

The black death rules over London with an iron fist. The once so noble city now desolate and in disarray, what once was the kingdom of men is now the kingdom of rats.

 The streets are filled with the dead and the dying. The stench of sick, rotten flesh is unbearable. The wails of those who have lost and those who are losing echoes through the narrow streets. The city is lost. The city is dying.

A man dressed in black makes his way through the bodies. He wears a mask to cover his face. (but unlike those who call themselves plague doctors, it protects him from the rays of the sun, and allows for anonymous travel) Its curved beak is filled with herbs and spices. (they foolishly believe it will protect them from the disease. It does not, but he prefers it over the smell of death.)

Wretched hands cling onto the tails of his overcoat. He pities them, these brave souls so desperately clutching onto life. He cannot save them. They are too far gone. Their black flesh rotten, their skin covered in bleeding buboes, their breaths ragged and shallow. There is no hope for them. No salvation. Only death. (All he can do is pray it comes quickly.)

Perhaps death shall visit them at night. A merciful end to all their suffering. He smiles beneath the mask. He shall not go hungry tonight, or tomorrow, or anytime soon for as long as the plague continues to spread. (For three more years does the plague rage on, claiming millions of lives across the whole of Europe.)

\--

Night falls, but the city never really sleeps. The sick do not stop dying, instead, the crying continues in the dark. He has taken off the mask. He has no need for it. He wades through the bodies. He drinks from some, snapping their necks after he has had enough, silencing their endless cries. He feels no joy in taking their lives, but it is the most humane thing he can do for them.

He tastes the sickness in their blood, but it does not harm him, as no mortal sickness can.

As he moves from street to street, he hears a voice. He follows its sweet sound, finding a boy singing softly while holding the body of a woman. He is crying, the boy, crying over the loss of his mother. Minhyuk watches from a distance with a sad smile. The boy’s voice is beautiful, soothing, sorrowful. A welcome change from the cries of the dying. He gently brushes his mother’s hair. The boy cannot be older than twenty. (He, too, had also not been much older than twenty when he died, Minhyuk reminds himself.)

He isn’t wearing any protective gear, or anything, when he touches the dead. It cannot last long before he, too, is infected.

He follows him, over the next few months, from a distance. The boy is surprisingly resilient, staying healthy in a city of the dead and the dying. But one can only delay the inevitable for so long.

The boy falls sick.

And Minhyuk makes a choice.

He has grown attached to the boy. He does not wish to see him suffer, he does not wish to see him slowly perish. So he visits him, one night, when the sickness hasn’t claimed any of his limbs yet and his flesh is not yet covered in sores and boils.

“Are you an angel?” The boy asks, as Minhyuk descends from the roof dressed in black. “Have you come to take me away?”

“I am no angel, boy.” Minhyuk says. “But I will take away your suffering, if you so please.”

\--

The boy, whose name is Shin Hoseok, dies at the age of twenty-two. And from his mortal form is born a vampire, a creature of the night eternal, a living undead.

His skin is as white as the first snow. His hair is the color of chestnut. His eyes are a dark auburn. He is kind, and he is gentle.

The boy, whose name is Shin Hoseok, becomes Minhyuk’s first, true friend.

\--

_“Solitude is all that I have known for a great many years. Now it is but a distant memory. Hoseok rarely ever leaves my side. He is eager to learn, and eager to please. He is a wonderful companion. Our travels have taken us across Europe, and beyond. We have crossed a great amount of land, and sea. I do not yet know where we are headed, but I suppose it does not matter. Time is on our side.”_

From the diary of Lee Minhyuk, 1368

They arrive in what they later find out is the city of Nanjing at the time of a great celebration. Red banners are hung from every building. Flags are paraded around. People are cheering. Soldiers are proudly lined up in front of the royal palace, where the new emperor waves to his people. An era of chaos and turmoil had ended, ushering in a dynasty of (relative) peace and prosperity.

It is here, that Minhyuk loses Hoseok in a crowd. Minhyuk is overwhelmed by the roar of the crowd, the sound of music coming from every side, the bright flashing colors, the smell of food and alcohol and the big city. Hoseok is not. Hoseok is excited and curious, and he lets himself be swept away in the waves of people.

Minhyuk doesn’t see him again for almost a whole year. He is worried sick, but Hoseok has disappeared without a trace. It’s as if he has dropped off the face of the earth.

The Hoseok that comes back is different. He is still the sweet, good kid that he found singing in the streets, but he is different, still. Quieter. Darker. More mature. He won’t talk about what happened, or where he had been, but Minhyuk knows something must have happened.

They do not return to China, after that.


	2. A (ship) wreck

_"We have travelled far from that place. The further we have gone, the more Hoseok seems like himself. I do not know whether or not Hoseok will tell me what happened, or if he ever will, but seeing him smile again is good enough. We have once more crossed an ocean. We have decided to stay here for a while. We have bought a house close by the sea. The two of us, we are happy."_

From the diary of Lee Minhyuk, 1567

 

They wake up from the sound of wood crashing against rocks. It isn't the first ship that gets in trouble close to the coast line. This part of the sea is treacherous, littered with sharp rocks in shallow waters with a deceptively strong current. Only the experienced or the stupid dare sail these parts. The latter often find their demise on the pointed spikes.

As did these fools.

Minhyuk isn't really all that interested (he has seen more than enough human suffering), but Hoseok insists on checking for survivors.

Even from afar, Minhyuk can tell that the damage to the ship is colossal. As they walk towards the short strip of sand preluding the wild formation of rocks, they come across shards of shattered wood. The bow has been completely impaled on a rock formation. What little parts of the ship that haven't sunk are scattered across the bay.

Motionless bodies float between the driftwood. Some of them are still shackled (never standing a chance as the tide swallowed them whole).

 

It has been a slave ship. Slavery is alive and booming in these parts of Africa. Young men and women are bought from impoverished countries, to work for the rich for nearly nothing at all. (Minhyuk is disgusted by this kind of practice. How can a human being keep another human being as property? It makes absolutely no sense.)

Amongst the rocks, there lays a boy. His hands and feet are shackled, and yet somehow he has made it to land, and somehow he is still alive, though barely. He is mortally wounded, and it probably won't take long before he, too, takes his final breath. He is nothing but skin and bones, chest heaving with every ragged breath he takes.

He is small, with copper hair and amber eyes. He cannot be older than twenty (which, for a slave, is already considered old. He was probably being shipped to a plantation to work the fields.)

Minhyuk looks at the boy and his heart hurts. He doesn't deserve this cruel fate. To have his life ended before it ever really began. He has probably never known freedom. Minhyuk looks at Hoseok, and nods. Hoseok understands.

They have to help him. They have to give him life.

 

Minhyuk picks up the boy (who weighs nearly nothing), and brings him to the shore. His life is fading fast, so he must act quickly. Minhyuk cradles the boy's head, biting down on his wrist before carefully holding it to the boy's mouth. After making sure he has drank his blood Minhyuk bites down on his neck, draining him until the last drop.

They take him home, staying by his side as he transitions. That night, the boy named Yoo Kihyun dies at the age of twenty, and a vampire is born from his ashes.

Kihyun awakes, free from shackles for the first time in his life. He studies his wrists and ankles, expecting them to feel chafed or burned, but all is he feels instead is _Hunger._ (An insatiable, raging hunger that gnaws on his insides and clouds his mind and judgement.)

His eyes glaze over and all he can think of is blood, bloOd, blOOd, _BLOOD_ , **BLOOD** , **_BLOOD_**. He doesn't see Minhyuk and Hoseok sitting beside his bed. He doesn't know what's going on, on where he is, or _why_ he's craving blood, all he knows is that he can smell it from across the room, and it's all he ever wanted.

 

Every vampire's transition is different. While Hoseok's transition was smooth and painless (like waking up from a deep slumber, Hoseok comes back to life feeling refreshed), Kihyun's final journey is fitful and agonizing, as if his human life isn't ready to let go yet.

It is unbearable to watch for Minhyuk, who feels Kihyun's every twitch and cry as if they were his own. Unable to watch any longer, Minhyuk goes out to collect blood for when Kihyun wakes up. Hoseok watches over him, concern visible on his face. Just as Minhyuk returns, putting the jug of blood on the kitchen counter, Kihyun's eyes shoot open.

 

He looks wild and crazed, unable to focus his gaze on anything. He crawls out of bed, scrambling on his hands and feet like a rabid animal, storming to the kitchen following the scent of blood. Kihyun gulps it all down, spilling red all over himself as he is unable to control himself. He empties the jug, wipes his mouth, then abruptly stops to look at his hands covered in red smears.

His hands are shaking.

" _What am I?_ " He asks, horror thick in his voice as he turns to Minhyuk and Hoseok and starts to cry.

 

It takes Kihyun many years to adjust to his new life as a vampire. While he is grateful to Minhyuk for saving his life, he at first adamantly refuses to join them in anything even slightly vampiric. He only feeds when absolutely necessary, and even then only when served in a container of some sorts brought to him by Minhyuk.

He does not use any of his enhanced abilities, preferring to walk in a regular pace instead of appearing somewhere in the blink of an eye. Often, he stays at home while Minhyuk and Hoseok go out to feed.

Kihyun hates his fangs. He finds them absolutely revolting. (They automatically extend whenever he drinks. Minhyuk would sometimes find him in front of the mirror, eyeing his canine teeth with a look of intense disgust)

 

Kihyun has been raised very religiously as a human, which in turn leads to him thinking of himself as something _demonic._ (which is, probably, technically, true). Minhyuk hates seeing him beat himself up about it. He hates that he gave Kihyun an existence that he didn't wish for, didn't ask for. (Kihyun insists that he is grateful though, for having a second chance at life even if he isn't truly _alive._ )

Despite his reluctance to accept his vampire nature, they become friends very easily. Once Kihyun gets over the initial shock and fear, he finds himself feeling very comfortable around Minhyuk and Hoseok. For the first time in his life he is allowed to just be himself, to voice his opinions and go wherever he pleases.

No longer is he bound by rules or chains. (While he does not care much for being a vampire, he thoroughly enjoys his newfound freedom.)

 

Eventually, Kihyun does find peace with his vampiric existence, though he still prefers to stay home most of the time, doing chores around the house or tending to the vegetables in his own little garden. He learns how to read and write, spending much time studying various subjects. He starts cooking food for fun (while he cannot eat it himself, he enjoys the process of making it), donating the meals to the local orphanage. He finds that, as long as he is not forced to, he enjoys taking care of others, making them happy.

And eventually, Kihyun finds himself being happy, despite being a vampire. He concludes it is better to be undead than to not have a life at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta catch 'em all.


	3. Viva la revolution

_“Today is the day we leave the house that we have called our home for so many years. I am both saddened and excited to leave this place behind. There are so many memories here, both good and bad, and I am reluctant to let it go. But I am excited to see more of the world again, to see how much it has changed over the years. Besides, a house is just a house, it is the presence of my beloved family that makes any place a home."_

From the diary of Lee Minhyuk, 1770

 

For nearly two hundred years, they live happily in their house by the sea. Kihyun probably wouldn’t have minded staying there for all eternity, content to live in their little bubble, but Hoseok’s sense of adventure is itching and Minhyuk is also curious to see more of the world. So the three of them pack up, trading in their comfortable life at the coast of Africa for life on the road.

For years they travel throughout Europe, going from country to country, never staying long enough in any place to settle. Hoseok and Minhyuk love the adventure, content to live with very little possessions. But Kihyun misses his books and his garden, he misses having a place to call his own, so after about ten years of constant travel they strike down in France.

It is the year of 1785 when they buy a house in the suburbs of Paris. Little did they know that they arrived a mere four years before a long period of social and political turmoil. Little did they know that they would flee the country again not even ten years later to escape the violence and the rising dictatorship of the man called Napoleon.

But they knew none of that when they settled into their new home on a particularly hot and sweltering summer night. It wasn't a remarkably large house, nor was it very lavishly decorated, but it had a little garden and a charming little balcony and a spiral staircase leading up to a little study. (Despite all the terrible things that would happen in Paris in the following years, Kihyun insists that that little house will always be his favorite.)

Kihyun fills the study with books and the garden with vegetables. He hangs flowers from the balcony and paints the study a bright blue. (It reminds him of the sea)

Hoseok, too, flourishes in Paris, enjoying the vivid nightlife of the big city. He takes on a job as a bartender in a nightclub. He loves being around people, and the normalcy of having a job helps get rid of his restlessness.

Minhyuk, above all, enjoys the company of his little family. After having roamed the earth alone for hundreds of years, it is the little moments they spend together that he treasure the most. Like eating breakfast together (breakfast, lunch and dinner being blood, but it is the idea that counts) at the kitchen table, or watching Hoseok and Kihyun bicker over little things (they really were like siblings).

Minhyuk picks up painting. As a hobby, at first, but he seems to have natural talent for it, and simply through word of mouth, potential buyers start showing up at their door. He opens a little walk-in studio where he spends many evenings painting exquisite landscapes of faraway lands and portraits of great figures throughout time.

 

 

In hindsight, they should have probably seen it coming. They should have felt the dissatisfaction brewing amongst the people. The unrest and anger buzzing through the streets. They should have seen that the random destruction, the shouting, the stares were only the beginning.

On the eve of the revolution, the tension between the working class and the highborn is palpable wherever you go. Riots break out more frequently. Aristocrats are mobbed and beaten in the streets.

Their garden is trampled. Kihyun is inconsolable, cradling his broken vegetables in his arms as if they were his babies. The flowers are torn from their balcony. Kihyun's sadness awakens an anger in Hoseok. Who did these mortals think they were, blaming them for their misery and poverty? Minhyuk calms him, and for a while, everything seems to be good.

The windows of Minhyuk's studio are thrown in. And one night, several months later, they watch the building go up in flames. Minhyuk insists it is alright. The people are just fighting for their rights. It's not their fault.

Minhyuk would never voice how much it hurts him, losing all his work to the fire, but Hoseok and Kihyun can see it in his eyes. (Many, many years later they surprise Minhyuk by buying him an art studio closely resembling the one he has lost. They even track down some of his old work, those few that survived the Revolution.)

Neither of the three of them have any royal lineage, but people make assumptions based on their strange pale complexions and irregular public appearances. For the first time in their vampiric existence, they feel like their lives might actually be in danger.

 

On a cold winter's night, Hoseok makes his way back home from work. It has been increasingly dangerous to go outside alone, and Hoseok makes sure to keep to the shadows. He almost makes it home, until he hears the sound of fists connecting with flesh, followed by muffled cries from a nearby alley. He jumps onto the roof of the closest building, peering over the edge.

Below, he sees a group of 5, maybe 6 men, mercilessly wailing on someone. The poor guy is gagged with a piece of cloth, his hand bound behind his back. His elegant clothes are ripped and tattered (he must be a nobleman, but judging from what is left of his face, he cannot even have passed the thirty.)

He is bruised and broken, bleeding from various gashes all over his body. Hoseok is overcome with anger. It is probably a combination of the constant threats, the destruction of Kihyun's garden and Minhyuk's art studio that tips him over the edge. Hoseok has had enough. He is angry and tired of it all. He jumps down from the building, grabbing the first two guys' heads and smashing them to the ground before they even have a chance to react. (Hoseok doesn't hold back his power, and their skulls pulverize on the concrete.)

The other four jump up, alarmed by the sudden intruder and the near-instant demise of their fellow men. Two of them pull out knives. Hoseok grins, turning to the third, flashing his fangs and closing the distance between him and his next prey.

Hoseok, generally, is not a violent person. He is softhearted and gentle, concerned with all life human and animal alike. But even the softest vampire can break down if they are provoked long enough. (And even the softest vampire can break a man's neck like a twig.)

He grabs the man by the throat, squeezing hard until he feels the bones snap beneath his fingers. (He dies a quick death, which is more than he deserves, probably). The other two suffer an equally quick (but not necessarily painless) fate as Hoseok rips their hearts from their chests.

Hoseok kneels down next to the gagged man. He whimpers against his bounds, but he doesn't seem to be afraid of Hoseok. He unties the rope on his wrists and the cloth from his head. Looking at him from up close, the damage is worse than he thought. The bleeding seems to be internal as well, and he fears the man does not have that long to live.

 

So he makes an impulse decision. One that goes against the unspoken agreement made between the three vampires. One that tests the bonds of trust between them. One he makes selfishly, incautiously, for himself.

The next day, Minhyuk finds Hoseok and the other man lying on the bed in his room. Blood is smeared all over the furniture. The man is dead, clearly, no human could survive this amount of blood loss, and his skin is sickly pale.

But as Hoseok stirs, so does the man. The man, who is not dead at all, but rather undead instead.

(No human is to be turned without all three vampires' acknowledgement and agreement)

(No human is to be turned unaccompanied by Minhyuk)

(No human is to be turned. Period. Not in times like this. Not here. Not now.)

 

Minhyuk clasps his hand in front of his mouth. " _Hoseok, what have you done?_ "

**Author's Note:**

> Can someone pls write a summary for me I never know what to write T_T
> 
> lol also yes ANOTHER VAMPIRE!MINHYUK fic I have issues FIGHT ME  
> Checking off my [supernatural] square for the bingo!  
> <3


End file.
